So now do we start the whole - "what didn't exist when you were a kid" discussion? Well, I do remember our first television for starters. I also remember Ike - and he was neither a GT member nor a hurricane!

My parents had the first COLOR TV on our block. All my friends came over at 4 pm to watch Batman at our house, because Batman was so much more awesome in color. POW!BAM!

Every Wednesday night at 8 pm, I would become too sick to go to catechism. My periodic illness fortuitously coincided with Star Trek -- which didn't need "TOS" behind it then. I'd miraculously recover by 9 pm. It being obvious what I held sacred, my parents finally let me drop out of catechism while ST was running new episodes. They hated that show, btw. My mom never had much imagination and thought all sf was ridiculous. My dad thought it was liberal hippie claptrap.

Seems to me older gamers had it pretty sweet: The future was limitless! I mean when your games have an "x" for a robot or knight or tank, anything would be an improvement! When you're reading a text description of a dungeon or battle, and then someone brings out a game with four or five colors and crudely drawn Orcs, you're not going to complain about the Orc having a scimitar instead of a battleaxe.

Now, we've got nothing to look forward too: years of improving graphics leave us thinking that "something's not quite right" with the AI, the gameplay, the graphics, etc.

Logged

You just don't give up do you? You seize life by the throat and shake it like a topless bartender mixing a martini! -- Mayor Adam West

Seems to me older gamers had it pretty sweet: The future was limitless! I mean when your games have an "x" for a robot or knight or tank, anything would be an improvement!

Games went downhill when they became mass-market products with huge development costs. There was a lot more innovation and risk-taking when they were made by hobbyists, for hobbyists, with very little money at stake and only cursory attention to appearance -- before accountants and marketers took over the industry. But I've done this rant before.

Seems to me older gamers had it pretty sweet: The future was limitless! I mean when your games have an "x" for a robot or knight or tank, anything would be an improvement!

Games went downhill when they became mass-market products with huge development costs. There was a lot more innovation and risk-taking when they were made by hobbyists, for hobbyists, with very little money at stake and only cursory attention to appearance -- before accountants and marketers took over the industry. But I've done this rant before.

Because back then we didn't have a billion tetris, pacman, pong etc clones....

Soon to be 45. Started in the arcades then my parents and their friends went in together and bought Pong. I was hooked! I had the Atari pinball/breakout console and then worked in high school to buy a 2600. Moved on to computers with the TI99/4A (16 bit baby!), 8 bit Atari 800XL, Atari ST then saw Wing Commander on a 386 and never looked back!

Soon to be 45. Started in the arcades then my parents and their friends went in together and bought Pong. I was hooked! I had the Atari pinball/breakout console and then worked in high school to buy a 2600. Moved on to computers with the TI99/4A (16 bit baby!), 8 bit Atari 800XL, Atari ST then saw Wing Commander on a 386 and never looked back!

OMG, Breakout, lol! I always say I started video gaming with my first NES, but I remember playing Breakout on some kind of pinball or similar machine - late at night while "working"... nothing to do at 4 AM, and someone gave us the code to play the machine for free. Later, we got it for Nintendo, with the special controller. I adored that game.

Logged

Mytocles (MY-toe-cleez)

"Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most!"- I don't remember who said it, and probably neither do they...